Carrol, you act like my beliefs are from some bizarro land, not shared by the global labor movement that has condemned Chavez for anti-union attacks on the CTV. See the ICFTU article below:
--------------- Venezuela: Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights (2002)
http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991215658&Language=EN
The government's desire to control the trade union movement has led to continuous intervention by the public authorities in the unions' internal affairs and generated disturbing social and political tensions within the country.
Legislation
Restriction of freedom of association in the LOT
The Constitution of 1999 and the "loi organique du travail" (LOT, employment law) of 1990, promote freedom of association for all workers, apart from members of the armed forces. However certain legislative measures contradict the stated desire to respect trade union freedom.
For example, Article 404 of the LOT imposes a ten-year transitional period on foreign workers before they are entitled to stand for leadership of a union. Article 118 sets too high a threshold for the number of workers required to form a union of independent workers. The LOT also presumes, quite unacceptably, to list the tasks and aims of workers' organisations.
The electoral commission charged with harmonising labour legislation in line with the new Constitution of 1999 has advised legal reforms which would make wholesale changes to the law. However by the end of 2001 no decision had yet been taken by the National Assembly, which the government says will probably open up the procedure for amending the legislation to nationwide consultations.
Interference in union affairs allowed by the Constitution
While the Constitution contains some innovative clauses on human rights, it also contains some contradictory provisions. For example, whilst purporting to safeguard political rights, such as voting rights, some provisions undermine in effect the freedom of association guaranteed in ILO conventions 87 and 98. Article 95 of the Constitution requires that trade union constitutions provide for their leaders' mandates to be non-renewable and submitted to a universal, direct and secret ballot, thereby constituting a clear interference in internal union affairs. The 8th provision of Article 293 compounds this interference by delegating the organisation and supervision of trade union elections to a national electoral council (CNE), until such time as new electoral laws contained in the Constitution are introduced.
In addition, a resolution by the Controller-General of the Republic requires trade union leaders to submit a sworn statement of union assets at the start and end of their terms of office.
Restriction on collective bargaining
According to paragraph 2 of Article 473 of the LOT, unions must represent the absolute majority of the workforce in order to be recognised as representative for collective bargaining purposes. The ILO has criticised this provision, on the grounds that it prevents minority organisations from carrying out joint bargaining where no single union organisation represents the absolute majority.
Rights in practice
Political context
The coming to power of President Hugo Chavez Frías in 1998 coincided with a public desire for a thoroughgoing reform of the country's institutions, symbolised by the adoption, in a referendum in December 1999, of the new Constitution. A climate of permanent hostility and political conflict characterised the first years of the Chavez government. Many analysts agree that the constitutional improvements have contrasted with the concentration of power in the hands of the President who, until the end of October 2001, governed by decree. The trade unions, which had previously managed to escape his control, have become the butt of his attacks over the last two years.
The government's policies on freedom of association and collective bargaining have provoked a resurgence of social conflicts. The repeated attacks by the authorities on unions opposing the interventionist policies of President Chavez have, in practice, undermined trade union rights throughout the year, in stark contrast to the government's proud claims regarding respect for human rights. For example, the authorities have reneged on agreements negotiated with workers, particularly in the public sector.
State interference: a brief look back to the year 2000
In March 2000 the government interfered in trade union affairs through issuing various decrees and, in particular, by setting up a national trade union election commission charged with calling a referendum in which workers would give their views on the issue of trade union unity. This measure received international criticism from union organisations and the ILO, as well as from many sectors of civil society in Venezuela, since ILO Convention 87 states that trade union unity must reflect the will of affiliated workers and cannot, therefore, be imposed by an administrative decree. Despite these numerous protests, the referendum was held in December 2000. The main results were the immediate dismissal of all existing union leaders and the calling of new elections, to be held within six months, aimed at renewing all the unions' leadership bodies. Whilst not recognising the legitimacy of the referendum but wanting to demonstrate their willingness to help democratise the Venezuelan trade union movement, the Executive Committee of the Venezuelan Confederation of Workers (CTV) resigned and a provisional committee was nominated to cover the transitional period. The committee's main task was to organise the elections based on the existing constitution of the Confederation.
Events in 2001
More government interference in 2001
Following the results of the referendum of December 2000, the CNE established a special statute for the renewal of trade union leadership bodies, which was again criticised by the ILO as a new example of interference in union affairs. According to the unions, especially the CTV, the statute contains unduly petty and detailed provisions on the electoral process and proposes the creation by the CNE of an updated list of members of union organisations. Such lists would be risky to the unions as they could be used to draw up blacklists, since any interested parties could consult them.
Some 3600 unions held elections to renew their leadership bodies between July and September 2001. However, at the end of September the process of registering candidates for the post of President of the country's main confederation had only just begun. Six candidates wanted to be considered for the post of President of the CTV.
Intervening once again in the unions' internal affairs, President Chavez led a media campaign aimed at imposing his preferred candidate, Aristobulo Isturíz, a member of the FBT union which Chavez himself had founded in the year 2000. The President of the FEDEUNEP (national federation of public employees), Freddy Piccio, went as far as denouncing the government's manoeuvres. These had required him, just before the CTV elections, to affiliate seven new unions, including yellow ones, thereby improving the chances of the official candidate in the vote.
CTV elections disrupted
After several delays, the CTV elections were finally held on 25 October. Over one million workers throughout the country were required to vote, in an unparalleled procedure resembling a presidential election. However the arrangements were not always adequate for such a huge event and despite the presence of several observers many irregularities were noted in both camps: many ballot boxes disappeared, voting slips were burned or documents were delivered too late. The Union of Employees of Caracas City Hall had all their ballot boxes ransacked by workers acting under the direct orders of the Mayor Freddy Bernal, a member of the ruling MVR (Fifth Republic Movement) party. The elections had to be called off in several states, including Bolivar and Zulia, both of which had large numbers of unionised workers. When the elections were held in Zulia, the CTV's electoral commission declared the victor to be Carlos Ortega, the former leader of the Oil Workers Federation (FEDEPETROL) and a candidate from the United Workers Front (FUT), with 57% of the votes cast.
Although all the sectors recognised the victory of Carlos Ortega, the government obstinately refused to recognise the new leadership and threatened to bring a case in the High Court (Tribunal supremo de justicia) if the CNE did not declare the union elections illegal. However the CNE had still not issued such a statement by the end of 2001. Such a decision by the CNE would in any case be illegal, since ILO Convention 87 states that union elections must be supervised by union members and no governmental body may intervene in the procedure.
The authoritarianism and virulent statements by President Chavez intensified up to the end of the year, severely increasing tension between various sectors of civil society and the public authorities. On December 10 there was a general strike called by the employers' federation, FEDECAMARAS, which was also joined by the CTV. The latter was protesting at the adoption, on the last day of the period during which Chavez was exercising special powers, of a whole package of 49 laws, some of which affected the autonomy of the oil workers. Confronted by this general strike, the first since the fall of the dictator Perez Jimenez, the President threatened the participating organisations, thus widening the rift between union organisations and the public authorities.
Bars to union membership
The government has sporadically imposed bars to union membership in certain companies. Many employees of Corporación Inlaca, in the state of Carabobo, were sacked, with the complicity of a female labour inspector, after they had set up a union, despite their immunity as union delegates. In June the sacked workers appealed to the Ministry of Labour, which decided in September against their plea.
The Eastern Firemen's Union (Sindicato de los Bomberos del Este) complained to the ILO at the merger of their association with another institution, as part of the restructuring of the municipal administration of the Federal District, without there having been any recognition of their right to belong to a union.
Collective bargaining rights trampled on and strikes declared illegal
According to the Venezuelan human rights action-training programme (PROVEA), 22 peaceful demonstrators organised by workers faced repression at the hands of the security forces.
On the strength of the outcome of the December 2000 referendum, the authorities made the continuation or resumption of collective bargaining conditional upon the renewal of trade union leadership bodies. The announcement triggered numerous protest strikes, which were promptly declared illegal by the authorities. The process of electing a new leadership took up to eight months or more in some cases and paralysed collective bargaining with many unions, principally in the public sector.
On February 1, primary and secondary school teachers launched a 24-hour strike organised by their seven trade union federations in protest at the government's refusal to negotiate. The authorities immediately declared the strike illegal, refusing to recognise the strike leaders on the pretext that they would not cooperate with the government.
In May the Single Union of Workers in the Iron, Steel and Allied Industries (SUTISS) was compelled to call a strike following the refusal of the management at the SIDOR company to negotiate. A court in the city of Guayana (Bolivar) authorised the use of force to break the strike, but there were no confrontations and the SUTISS won satisfaction of its demands after 15 days of striking.
On July 31, court workers began a strike that lasted a month, in protest at the failure of the judicial authorities to respect the clauses of a collective agreement, a measure condemned in June by the ILO at its International Labour Conference.
Insults by the authorities
President Chavez's frequently insulting remarks against striking trade union leaders made during his televised speeches further heightened tensions between these leaders and the Head of State.
At the end of March, workers at the State oil company Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), went on a 48-hour strike in protest at the management's refusal to grant the pay rise negotiated between the unions and management a few months earlier. The workers were insulted, called traitors and saboteurs, the national guard was sent in, and finally the strike was declared illegal. Over 100 workers were arbitrarily arrested, according to a trade union leader. In the end, the workers did get their pay rise.
Frequent favouritism
Since its creation in 2000, the FBT has been used by Chavez in his attempts to control the Venezuelan trade union movement, and impose the Bolivarian revolution on the workers. The government negotiates principally with its own union, despite its lack of legitimacy, notably after the last elections.
There are several examples in which the government has favoured the official trade union in collective bargaining, such as at the Tablazo and de Moron (Carabobo) factories of the Pequiven company, a subsidiary of PDVSA, where the workers went on strike in June for over two weeks in protest at a collective agreement signed by the Ministry of Labour and the FBT that was against their interests. The Defence Minister, José Vicente Rangel, promptly declared the strike illegal and threatened to send in the troops and the national guard. The dispute ended in victory for the protestors.
In July, members of the FBT, supported by the police, attacked members of the Táchira State building workers' union as they were on their way to work in Coloncito (Táchira). They shot and killed Wilmer Velasquez, who was hit by three bullets in the stomach and one in the back, and injured 30 others.